Throttle valve operating mechanism



July 14, 1931. J. a. BLUNT ET AL THROTTLE VALVE OPERATING MECHANISM 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 29, 1929 OM85 uh BY Ffoyer rue/ old ATTORNEYJuly 14, 1931. J. G. BLUNT ET AL THROTTLE VALVE OPERATING MECHANISMFiled July 29. 1929 2 SheetsSheet 2 Fl en.-

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A' ORNEY Patented July 14, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT oar-ice JAMES G.BLUNT AND ROGER W. CLIFFORD, SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK I THROTTLE VALVEOPERATING MECHANISM I Application filed 'J'uly 29,

This invention relates generally to throttle valve operating mechanisms,and more parpressure, but, in the emergency of failure of fluid pressureto operate the throttle valve by manual pressure.

An object of the invention is to provide a throttle valve operatingmechanism adapted, through the instrumentality of a single hand lever,to control a fluid motor for normally operating the throttle valve, andin the event of failure of fluid pressure, to operate the throttle valveby manual pressure.

Another object of the invention is to provide a throttle valve operatingmechanism of the type indicated, wherein the fulcrum points of the handlever will be automatically changed in the emergency of failure of fluidpressure, to provide increased leverage enabling the throttle valve tobe cracked or initially opened with greater expedition and with lessexertion of physical energy than is possible under prior and presentpractice;

Further objects of the invention are to provide a mechanism of the typeindicated which is economical to manufacture and maintain, which has aminimum number of parts, which effects a material economy of space inthe cab, and which is of increased efficiency in operation.

Other objects of the invention will hereinafter appear.

The improvement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings: Figures 1 and 1a are views in sideelevation showing the invention applied to a locomotive boiler; Fig. 2 aside view partly in elevation and partly in section, and on an enlargedscale, of the throttle valve control mechanism shown-in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 atop plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 a front end view,in elevation, of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2 with the quadrant andthrottle lever removed; Fig. 5 a vertical, transverse section, taken onthe line V-V of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 a vertical transverse section taken onthe line VI-VI of Fig. 2;

1929. Serial no. 881,821.

Fig. 7 a longitudinal, vertical section taken on the line VII-VII ofFig. 3; Fig. 8 an enlarged fragmentary view, showing details of the handlever latch mechanism; Fig. 9 a transverse, vertical section taken ontheline IX-IX of Fig. 8; and, Fig. 10

a longitudinal vertical section taken on the line X-X of Fig. 4, showingdetails of the pressure fluid connection to one of the cylinders and ofthe means for attaching the re- 00 movable cylinder head.

In the practice of the invention, referring descriptively to thespecific embodiment thereof which has been selected for exemplificationherein, the throttle valve 1 is nor- .6 mally operated by a fluidpressure motor 2,

controlled by an auxiliary valve 3, which in turn is controlled by ahand lever 4.

The fluid pressure motor comprises two axially aligned suitably bored,spaced cylinders 5 and 5a, and a piston element embodying two balancedpistons 6. and 6a, one fitted for reciprocation in each of thecylinders. The cylinders are formed in an integral casting, which alsoembodies a bed plate 7, 7i and the seat 8, of the auxiliary controlvalve 3. Removable heads 56 are fastened to the ends of the cylinders bybolts 50. The piston element is also formed as an integral casting, andcomprises a stem 9, connecting the pistons and embodying two parallelbars 10, spaced apart to provide a slot 11, through which the hand lever4, passes. The hand lever is pivotally connected to the stem 9, by a pin12, which passes through the bars 10 and the lever, and has extendedends to which are connected the rear ends of a yoke 13, that straddlesthe cylinder 5a, and has its forward end connected to a throttle rod 14.

The auxiliary valve 3 for controlling the movements of the pistonelement to effect the desired adjustments of the throttle valve,comprises the seat 8, a removable casing element 15, a disc valve 16, astem 17 for oscil- 05 lating the disc valve, a follower 18, and a spring19, interposed between the follower and an end of the casing element,and adapted to press the disc valve snugly against the seat 8. Rigidlyfixed to the valve stem 17, is a 1 lover arm 20, which serves tooscillate the disc valve to adjusted positions. The valve seat is formedwith three ports 21, 22, and 23. the port 22, being disposedintermediate the others and exhausting to the atmosphere, and the ports21 and 23 communicating with pipes 24 and 25, respectively, which lead,re spectively, to the outer ends of the cylinders 5 and 5a. The valvedisc is provided with a central channel or recess, adapted, uponselective movements of the disc,to permit exhaust of )ressure fluid fromone or the other of the cylinders through the ports 21 and 23 and out toatmosphere through the port 22. By referring to the drawings it will beobvious that the valve disc is adapted to be moved to a central orneutral position where equilibrium of pressures on the pistons will beestablished and movement of the piston element arrested, with consequentmaintenance of the throttle valve in any particular position ofadjustment selected; to a throttle valve opening position, wherepressure Wlll be exhausted from the cylinder 5 and additional pressureadmitted to cylinder 5a to effect the. desired degree of opening of thethrottle valve; and to a throttle valve closing position, where pressurewill be exhaused from the cylinder 50. and additional pressure admittedto cylinder 5 to effect the desired degree of closure of the throttlevalve.

To provide for limiting the degree of oscillation of the disc valve, thelever 20, is formed at its bottom with a depending lug 26, which isdisposed between the abutments 27 and 28, integrally formed with thecylinder casting. The lever arm 20, of the auxiliary valve is pivotallyconnected at its up per end to one end of a link 29, by a pin 30. Theother end of the link 29 is pivotally connected by a pin 31 to the upperend of a hand lever 4. In the event of failure of fluid pressure,contact between the lug 26 and abutment 28 will occur after the throttlevalve has been initially cracked, thus making the pin 31 the fulcrum forthe hand lever.

It is well known that certain types of throttle valves are unbalanced ina way to insure their positive closure and that relatively greatpressures are required to crack or open them, and that once they areopened, considerably less power will suffice to effect further opening.

In view of these well known conditions, the present invention provides,in the event of failure of fluid pressure to the cylinders, forincreasing the leverage of the hand lever 4, to enable the throttlevalve to be initially opened or cracked by the expenditure of a minimumamount of manual power. To this end, the hand lever is provided,intermediate the pivot pins 31 and 12, with an abutment 32 adapted tofulcrum on an adjustable abutment 33, when in emergency the lever ismoved to initially open the throttle valve.

The adjustable abutment 33, comprises a bolt 34, which passes through abore in a lug 35, formed integral with the cylinder casting. Fittedbetween the head of the bolt and the lug 35 is a spacing washer 34a. Toefiect various adjustments of the abutment 33, spacing washers ofdifferent thicknesses, or a variable number of washers may be used.After the throttle valve is cracked, the hand lever will pull the leverarm 20, to a position where its stop lug'26, will contact with theabutment 28, whereupon the fulcrum point of the hand lever will bechanged from the abut-' ment 33, to the pivot pin 31. By thus varyingthe effective leverage of the hand lever, so as to coincide with thevarying power requirements to effect manual operation of the throttlevalve, the throw of the hand lever is confined to a limit suitable forthe space available in the cab.

In order to adapt the hand lever 4 to assume the positions necessitatedby the changes of fulcrum point, a pivotal member for conveniencehereinafter termed a quadrant 36, is employed. This quadrant has one ofits ends pivoted between the jaws 38, and its other end slidably fittedbetween the jaws 39. A latch guide 40 is pivotally connected to the handlever 4, by a pin 41, and is made of greater breadth than the hand leverto provide ample contact with the quadrant to facilitate relativepivoting movements between itself and the hand lever. The latch guide isformed at one end with a groove 42, in which the lateral flange 37 ofthe quadrant is fitted, and at its other end with a lug 43, which spacesthe guide from the hand lever toinsure free sliding movement ofthe latch44, and also serves as a guide for the latch. The latch is formed with aguide slot 45, in which the lug 43 fits, and is connected by a link 46to a hand operable bell crank lever 47.

The operation ofthe mechanism is as follows: Assuming that the parts arein total throttle valve closure position, and that proper fluid pressureis present for operating the motor, when the hand lever 4 is moved bacward, it fulcrums on the pin 12, moving th valve disc 16 to throttleopening position. After the desired opening of the throttle valve hasbeen substantially accomplished, the hand lever is locked to itsquadrant 36, by the latch 44, and in response to a slight continuedmovement of the pistons 66a, will pivot on the pin 41, until the valvedisc 16 is restored to neutral position, where the pressures acting onthe pistons will be balanced, and the throttle valve held positively inthe desired adjustment. The various closing adjustments of the throttlevalve are similarly efi'ected by reversing the movement of the handlever. In the event of failure of fluid pressure, the throttle valve iscracked open by moving the hand lever until its abutment 32-, contactswith the abutment 33, whereupon the hand lever will fulcrum on theabutment 33, affording sufliciently increased leverage to enable thethrottle valve to be opened with a minimum of manual exertion. After thevalve is cracked, the fulcrum point of the hand lever is changed to thepin 31, the lug 26 having come into contact with the abutment 28. Itwill be obvious that the shifting of the fulcrum points is made inaccordance with the power requirements, and serves to confine the throwof the lever to desirable limits.

Fig. 10 of the drawings illustrates a novel, economical, and eflicientmeans of connecting the pressure fluid pipes and the removable heads tothe cylinders. In such construction the cylinder casting is formed witha lug 48, having a cylindrical bore 49, into one end of which is weldedthe pipe 25, and into the other end of which is threaded the cylinderhead fastening bolt 50. Intermediate the opposed ends of the pipe andbolt a passage 5d is provided to lead pressure fluid from the bore tothe inside of the cylinder.

The present invention can be applied to existing locomotives having thethrottle operating rod located outside the boiler, by

shortening the rear end of the throttle operating rod and substituting asuitable supporting bracket in place of the existing throttle leverfulcrum bracket.

Particularly novel features of the present invention are the provisionfor increasing the leverage of the hand lever to effect cracking of thevalve by manual power in the event of failure of fluid pressure; the useof a pivoted quadrant adapted to compensate for the variations inleverage; the pivoting of the hand lever to the quadrant to enable thehand lever to pivot in response to continned movement of the pistons torestore the auxiliary valve to neutral position; and the fourcooperative pivotal connections embodied in the mechanism, viz, thequadrant to the cylinder casting, thequadrant guide to the hand lever,the piston element to the hand lever, and-the auxiliary valve to thehand lever.

\Vhile one of the preferred embodiments of the invention has been shown,it is obvious that many variations in procedure, form, arrangement, andconstruction of parts can readily be made, and therefore the inventionis not limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but includes allsuch changes and modifications as come within the spirit and scope ofthe invention as set forth in the appended claims.

The invention claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a throttle valve operating mechanism, the combination of a fluidpressure motor embodying a piston element; an auxiliary valve movablefrom neutral position for controlling the application of fluid pressuresto the piston element; a quadrant supported to permit relative movementbetween it and the piston element; a hand lever operatively connected tothe auxiliary valve and to the iston element and adapted to move theauxiliary valve to piston element moving positions and to a neutralposition where movement of the piston element is arrested; and meanspivotally connecting said hand lever to selective points on the quadrantto permit said lever to return the auxiliary valve to neutral position.

2. In a throttle valve operating mechanism, the combination of a fluidpressurethe quadrant to permit said lever to return the auxiliary valveto neutral position.

3. In a throttle valve operating mechanism, the combination of a fluidpressure motor embodying a piston element; an auxiliary valve movablefrom neutral position for controlling the application of fluid pressuresto the piston element; a quadrant; and a hand lever operativelyconnected to the auxiliary valve and the piston element, and connectedto the quadrant to permit the lever to fulcrum at its point ofconnection with said quadrant to return the auxiliary valve to neutralposition, said quadrant having a connection permitting it to move tomaintain operable engagement with the lever.

(L. In a throttle valve operating mechanism, the combination of a fluidpressure motor embodying a piston element; an auxiliary valve movablefrom neutral position for controlling the application of fluid pressuresto the piston element; a quadrant pivotally mounted at one endindependently of said piston element whereby said quadrant is permittedmovement to and from said piston element; and a hand lever operativelyconnected to the auxiliary valve and the piston element, and connectedto the quadrant to permit the lever to fulcrum at its point ofconnection With said quadrant to return the auxiliary valve to neutralposition.

5. In a throttle valve operating mechanism, the combination of a fluidpressure motor embodying a piston element; an auxiliary valve movablefrom neutral position for controlling the application of fluid pressuresto the piston element; a hand lever; and a quadrant movable relative tothe piston element and in a direction substantially longitudinal of thelever, the said hand lever being operatively conneetedito the auxiliavalve and the piston element, and connecte to the quadrant to permit thelever to fulcrum at its point of connection with said quadrant to returnthe auxiliary valve to neutral position.

6. In a throttle valve operating mechanism, the combination of a fluidpressure motor embodying a piston element; an auxiliary valve movablefrom neutral position for controlling the application of fluid pressuresto the piston element; a quadrant supported to permit relative movementbetween it and the piston element; a guide slidably mounted on thequadrant; and a hand lever operatively connected to the auxiliary valveand adapted to move the same to piston element moving positions and to aneutral position where-movement of the piston element is arrested, saidhand lever being operatively connected to the piston element, andconnected to the guide to fulcrum at the point of connection with saidguide, thereby permitting said lever to return the auxiliary valve to.neutral position. I

7 In a throttle valve operating mechanism,'the combination of a fluidpressure motor embodying a piston element; an auxiliary valve movablefrom neutral position for controlling the application of fluid pressuresto the piston element; a quadrant pivotally mounted at one endindependently of said piston element, whereby said quadrant is permittedmovement to and from said piston element; a guide slidably mounted onthe quadrant for movement to selective positions thereon; and a handlever operatively connected to the auxiliary valve, the piston element,and the guide, said last connection providing a fulcrum to permit saidlever to return the auxiliary valve to neutral position.

8. In a throttle valve operating mechanism adapted normally to operate athrottle valve by fluid pressure and in the emergency of failure offluid pressure to operate the throttle valve by manual pressure, thecombination of a fluid pressure motor embodying a piston element; athrottle rod connected to the piston element; an auxiliary valve forcontrolling the application of fluid pressures to the piston element; ahand lever pivotally connected at one point to the piston element and atanother point to the auxiliary valve; and means adapted in emergency toform a fulcrum for the hand lever intermediate the two mentioned pivotpoints, when the hand lever is initially moved from total throttle valveclosure position.

9. In a throttle valve operating mechanism adapted normally to operate athrottle valve by fluid pressure and in the emergency of failure offluid pressure to operate the thottle valve by manual pressure, thecombination of a fluid pressure motor embodying a piston element; athrottle rod connected to the piston element; an auxiliary valve forcontrolling the application of fluid pressures to the piston element; aquadrant; a hand lever pivotally connected at spaced points to theauxiliary valve, the piston element and the quadrant; and means disposedin the path of movement of the lever adapted to-form a fulcrum thereforintermediate the auxiliary valve and piston element pivot points, whenin emergency the hand lever is initially moved from total throttle valveclosure position.

10. In a throttle valve operating mechanism adapted normally to operatea throttle valve by uid pressure and in the emergency of failure offluid pressure to operate the throttle valve by manual pressure, thecombination of a fluid pressure motor embody- 1ng a piston element; athrottle rod connected to the piston element; an auxiliary valve forcontrolling the application of fluid pressures to the piston element; ahand lever; 21 quadrant adapted to move in a direction longitudinal ofthe hand lever, the said hand lever being pivotally connected at spacedpoints to the auxiliary valve, the piston element, and the quadrant; andmeans disposed in the path of movement of the lever and adapted to forma fulcrum therefor intermediate the auxiliary valve and the pistonelement pivot points, when in emergency the hand lever is initiallymoved from total throttle valve closure position.

11. In a throttle valve operating mechanism adapted normally to operatea. throttle valve by fluid pressure and in the emergency of failure offluid pressure to operate the throttle valve by manual pressure, thecombination of a fluid pressure motor embodying a piston element; anauxiliary valve for controlling the application of fluid pressures tothe piston element; a hand lever; a quadrant adapted to move in adirection longitudinal of the hand lever; a guide slidably mounted onthe quadrant, the said hand lever being connected at spaced points tothe auxiliary valve, the piston element, and the guide on the quadrant;and an abutment disposed in the path of movement of the lever andadapted to form a fulcrum therefor intermediate the auxiliary valve andthe piston element 'pivot points, when in emergency the hand lever isinitially moved from total throttle valve closure position.

12. In a throttle valve operating mechanism adapted normally to operatea throttle valve by fluid pressure and in the emergency of failure offluid pressure to operate the throttle valve by manual pressure, thecombination of a fluid-pressure motor comprising two spaced cylindersand a piston element having two pistons, one fitted for reciprocation ineach of the cylinders; an auxiliary valve for controlling fluid in thecylinders; a control lever for operating the auxiliary valve; a pair ofspaced stops for limit- III ing movement of the control lever; aquadrant, pivoted at one end; a hand lever; a link pivotally connectedto the hand lever and to the control lever; a hand lever to the pistonelement; a pivot pin connecting the hand lever to the quadrant; andmeans disposed in the ath of movement of the hand lever and a apted toform a fulcrum therefor intermediate the pivot connections to the linkand the piston ele-' ment, when in emergency the hand lever is initiallymoved from total throttle valve closure position.

13. In a throttle valve operating mechanism adapted normally to operatea throttle valve by fluid pressure, and, in the emergency of failure offluid pressure, to operate the throttle valve by manual force, thecombination of a fluid pressure motor embodying an element actuated bysaid pressure; a throttle rod connected to said element; an auxiliaryvalve for controlling the application of fluid pressures to the motor; ahand lever having operable spaced connections with the auxiliary valveand throttle rod; and means disposed between the connections adapted inemergency'to form a fulcrum for the hand lever when said lever isinitially moved from total throttle valve closed position.

14. In a throttle valve operating mechanism adapted normally to operatea throttle valve by fluid pressure and, in the emergency of failure offluid pressure, to operate the throttle valve by manual force, thecombination of a fluid pressure motor embodying an element actuated bysaidpressure; a throttle rod connected to said element; an auxiliaryvalve for controlling the a plication of fluid pressuresto the motor; aand lever having operable spaced connections with the auxiliary valveand throttle rod; and a pair of means, one being disposed closer to the"said connection with the throttle rod than the other, the one of saidmeans disposed closer to the connection being adapted in emer gency toform a fulcrum for the hand lever when the same is initially moved fromtotal throttle valve closed posltion, and the other one of said meansforming a fulcrum for the said hand lever during subsequent throttlevalve opening movement.

JAMES G. BLUNT.

ROGER W. CLIFFORD.

pivot pin connecting the

